SYTYCD - Oh My

The Olympics are possibly my favorite sporting event, but on this second night of competition, I must take a break to pay homage to So You Think You Can Dance.  Whether you like ballroom, Latin, ballet, hip-hop or jazz, this show has something for you.  The program joins amazing dancers with awe-inspiring choreographers to producer spectacular results.  (Apologies to all your writers out there—I know I’m going heavy on the adjectives, but watch the show and you’ll see why I babble).

SYTYCD had always been my favorite dance show, but this year (Season 9), the contestants are nothing less than magnificent.  The leaps are higher, the tricks are trickier, and the flexibility is jaw dropping.  Dancers who didn’t make the top twenty would have been in the finale in previous seasons. 

The show is a competition, so who’s going to win?  Who knows.  In past seasons, I’ve one or two favorites, but this year, I’m can’t narrow it down to five, but here my attempt:

COLE:  This hot shot from Honolulu combines excellent dance technique with Bruce Lee quickness.  He calls his style Martial Arts Fusion, aptly named since he’s like nothing you’ve ever seen.  IMHO, he’s the guy to watch.

WITNEY:  This sassy ballroom wonder has been dancing since the age of three and it shows.  She’s also beautiful—and only eighteen.  She’s excelled at all dance styles, as evidenced by her contemporary number choreographed to Whitney Houston’s,  I Will Always Love You—one of the best routines of the season.

MATTHEW:  This dancer is a Ryan Gosling look-a-like—need I saw more?  This twenty-one-year-old from Arizona is more than just a pretty face.  He’s has the moves to go far in the competition.

CHENON:  He earned a spot at the Royal Ballet School in London—at age 14!  Born in Chicago he’s lived in Sydney and Zurich.  His globe traveling seems to have given his dancing an other-worldly greatness.

ELIANA:  She’s not just another ballerina.  Her experience with Cirque Du Soleil adds an interesting quirkiness to technical perfection.  In the last show, she portrayed a music box ballerina come to live, one of my favorite performances and reminiscent of a Tim Burton movie—only with great dancing.

Amelia, Cyrus, and Will are also favs, but I promised you five.  If you like dance, don’t miss this show.  After the Olympics, you can catch the program Wednesday’s at 8:00 on Fox.  You can also watch past performances on www.Fox.com/dance.